The Programme
A network of knowledge between Calabria and the world.
Pitagora Mundus is the international training and exchange programme promoted by l'IsCaPI since 2008. It links the Calabrian municipalities that host its activities, the Villages of Wisdom, with cities in partner countries, the Pythagorean Cities: language courses, advanced training on peace, exchanges between schools and universities, art and music.
The vision
A school that holds the disciplines together.
The Programme draws on the school that Pythagoras founded in Croton in the 6th century BC, where mathematics, music, ethics and politics were studied together, within a community. The original design envisaged a School of Wisdom in each of the participating villages: places open to the finest international expertise, where the scientific and socio-political questions of the present could be studied starting from Magna Graecian, Italic and Euro-Mediterranean culture.
Two lines of research and work stem from this approach.
The geopolitical line
To place Calabria at the centre of a permanent encounter between historical, scientific, philosophical and interreligious thought in the Mediterranean, the crossroads of three continents.
The pedagogical line
To educate for the encounter between peoples: Italian and foreign students who learn together, engage with different languages, religions and customs, and become aware citizens of a shared world.
The model
Villages of Wisdom and Pythagorean Cities.
The Programme works as an exchange between two networks of places. In Calabria, historic centres, guardians of inherited knowledge and of an architecture made of stone, wood and terracotta, become places of learning. Abroad, partner cities select the participants and in turn host Italian students and artists.
In Calabria
Villages of Wisdom
Each village hosts a School of Wisdom: an Italian course for foreigners, a foreign-language course for Italians, a vocational pathway in a state school or a single-subject master's programme. Students live in the village, with educational, healthcare, legal and cultural services guaranteed by the local network. Today the Village of Wisdom is Belvedere Marittimo.
In partner countries
Pythagorean Cities
A Pythagorean City is established by an agreement between a university or public institution, the local Chamber of Commerce and the national government. It selects the participants, supports their stay in Calabria and hosts Italian delegations for periods of study, teaching and performance.
Network and mobility →The principles
The rules common to every activity.
Everyone working in the Programme, in Calabria or abroad, abides by the same principles. Alongside the three cross-cutting parameters, beauty, utopia and the pursuit of happiness, these are what guide the selection of participants, teaching and hospitality.
Multilingualism
Italian for those who arrive, the languages of partner countries for Italians. Language is the first tool of cooperation between cultures, economies and societies, and it opens a wider labour market to those who study it.
Merit, equity and inclusion
With merit being equal, the Programme opens its doors to Italian and foreign students from vulnerable backgrounds or with fewer opportunities, for whom education is the concrete path towards a better life.
Safety and compliance with the rules
Participants are selected in cooperation with public institutions in partner countries, which mutually guarantee respect for rules and rights. The protection of participants, minors first and foremost, comes before any other requirement.
Global citizenship
The Programme draws on the principles of Global Citizenship Education: human rights, sustainable development, peace and intercultural dialogue as the content of learning, not merely as its framework.
Reference documents →The objectives
What the Programme sets out to do.
Pathways that develop critical thinking, autonomy and responsibility, together with theoretical, technical and interpersonal skills: knowing how to communicate, work in a team and approach a question from several points of view.
Enhancing local areas
An educational offer rooted in the history, landscape and culture of the host places: summer and winter courses, internships, cultural itineraries.
Bringing students to Calabria
More international students in Calabrian schools and universities, with a focus on small municipalities and inland areas, where their presence also strengthens the rule of law.
Widening networks
A stable presence in international mobility and cooperation networks, and new ties between people, schools and institutions.
Training professionals
Integrated international courses and profiles able to work in the international labour market.
Supporting cooperation
Targeted training that supports relations between Calabrian and Italian businesses and the students' countries of origin.
Peace and dialogue between peoples
Relations founded on mutual respect and mutual benefit, as the basis for sustainable, shared development.